Trojan
by Seadragon
Summary: Explosions and crazy radical groups are never good. Especially not when you're the only girl in Recon, your co-workers hate you, you're being forced to train a rookie who is a lot more than he seems. But hey, it can't get any worse right? Wrong.
1. Death Sentence

**Title:** Trojan  
  


**Genre: **Action/Adventure

**Spoilers:** None really.

**AU/Cannon:** AU

**Author:** Seadragon

**Dedicated to:** The story I wrote, and lost in Europe.

**Ship:** Not telling!

**Slash:** None.

**Summary:** After a mission that claimed the lives of all her partners, Holly must face anger and hate at work. Tears fall in secret, where no one will see them. When the enemy from the first mission returns for revenge; no one believes her, to fight it; she'll need a little help.

**A/N: Hi everyone, this is my first piece of AF fanfiction that I have actually posted, but I have written lots of other pieces in other categories, please feel free to read them! *hint hint***

Alright, this is going to be mostly Action/Adventure, with a _TEENY_ bit of Romance later. But I'm not telling what the ship is. And I don't think you'll be able to guess. My friend read it and she couldn't tell. But if you can, congrats!

I don't own anything. Really. Except for the poem/song, but that's beside the point.

-----

**Chapter 5:** _Guess Who's Back_

-----

"I regret that I have to say this, but Trouble Kelp is missing."

A shocked silence spread throughout Police Plaza.

Holly bit her lip sharply. Some of the other officers had silent tears running down their faces. Grub was sobbing into his sleeve. Even Root, who was making the announcement, had sadness etched into his face. Of course, until a body was found, they couldn't prove he was dead, but it wasn't likely he would have survive. They all knew what had happened. And that only Capitan Holly Short had escaped.

"We have already confirmed the deaths of Captain Vine, Captain Pine, Captain Thorn, Captain Arkerson, Corporal Vine, Corporal Tyrel, Private Pine, and Private Ryan."

More sadness all around. Some of the LEP's most respected officers had gone on that mission, and none of them had returned. Except for one.

"Captain Holly Short managed to beat the odds, and come home safely."

This time the silence was cold. Holly could feel the glares on her, but kept her eyes trained on Root. She had nothing to be ashamed of. Her face was hard and determined. She remained like that until a private's comment reached her pointy ears.

"Wonder what [or who] she sacrificed to do that?" He muttered angrily and glared harshly at her.

Holly felt the tears fill her eyes, but remained determined to ignore them.

"Only my brother's life." The corporal next to him said bitterly, his eyes shining from tears.

Holly bit back a sob, and ran.

_You see her try to hide,_

_Looking away,_

_Trying to escape all the lies,_

_The one left behind._

_As you glare,_

_She looks straight ahead,_

_Keeping her determined stare,_

_The one left behind._

_Angry words spoken behind her,_

_Tears build in her eyes,_

_But she won't give up ever,_

_The one left behind._

_Sympathy never comes her way,_

_Everyone wishes she would leave,_

_The tears shall forever stay,_

_The one left behind._

Holly ran. And ran. Half blinded by the tears that had been threatening to fall for sometime, really ever since she had escaped. She just wanted to get away from everyone. She couldn't take this, this _//Ihate/I//_. It had a bitter feeling, like the whole world except for her little space was falling apart.

Holly locked herself into the first office she came to. 

The registration office.

More tears.

They were having to take on about twenty new recruits to make up for the loses.

And it wasn't her fault.

This was one of the worst places she could have chosen to lock herself into. The other being the memory room, where all the memorials of all the fallen officers were.

Which now had the memorials of her team.

But she hadn't locked herself in there, but in the registration office. There was a checklist on the desk, with only three checkmarks. She looked at it carefully and bit back a sob.

Replacements Needed For:

Captain Kelp [?]

Captain Vine 

Captain Pine

Captain Thorn

Captain Arkerson

Corporal Vine

Corporal Tyrel

Private Pine

Private Ryan

She just had to lock her self in here. She shook her head. No. It wasn't her fault. This wasn't that bad. She would live.

Live.

Living.

That was what had gotten her into this mess in the first place. Living. When everyone else had fallen, she had returned. And now she was hated for it. How could they blame her? It wasn't like she had used the other officers for shields as she ran out to leave them to die!

No one understood. It was a cruel world. She only had two people, if you could call them that, on her side now; Root, and Foaly. Everyone else, well, they wished she had died too. She could still feel the anger in their gazes now, as they cut deeper and deeper into her soul, rendering her helpless, lost in memories and pain.

_Corporal Pine was struck down with a bullet. Holly watched him fall, helpless. All around her, her comrades were dying, and she couldn't do a thing. She watched as Captain Vine fell right in front of her and felt her heart wrench. This was cruel, making her watch this, knowing very well what she would do…_

_A pale gleam of moonlight shifted onto her and she let it calm her... Furiously, she shook her head. She couldn't sleep now. If she fell asleep now, she would never wake up again._

_But what else could she do? She was trapped, unable to escape, or even help, and she certainly didn't want to watch her friends being killed._

_A tear slid unbidden down her cheek and she bit back the helpless feeling. She inhaled deeply and nearly choked. The smell of blood was strong and unpleasant, and all too familiar._

_"Holly." A voice whispered._

_She looked cautiously to her side and gave Trouble a faint smile._

_"Do you have a plan?" He asked quietly. About to shake her head, all of a sudden ideas flooded into her head. She smiled grimly. It was payback time._

"Yes. Yes I do." 


	2. Unpleasant Memories

**Title:** Trojan  
  


**Genre: **Action/Adventure

**Spoilers:** None really.

**AU/Cannon:** AU

**Author:** Seadragon

**Dedicated to:** The story I wrote, and lost in Europe.

**Ship:** Not telling!

**Slash:** None.

**Summary:** After a mission that claimed the lives of all her partners, Holly must face anger and hate at work. Tears fall in secret, where no one will see them. When the enemy from the first mission returns for revenge; no one believes her, to fight it; she'll need a little help.

- - - - -

**Chapter 2: **_Unpleasant Memories_

- - - - -

The doorknob rattled.

Holly was yanked out of her painful memories and thrown into the present. The door rattled again. She got up cautiously from her place on the floor, how she had gotten there was unknown at the time. She tried to dry her eyes on the sleeve of her uniform, but failed, because of the large cast on her right arm.

With a sigh, she stepped forward and put her hand on the doorknob. She wasn't exactly ready to see anyone else yet, she hadn't had much time to mope, but she didn't seem to have a choice. She turned the lock and opened the door, stepping to the side to allow it to swing open.

"Holly?"

Foaly looked at her tear-streaked face.

"Nice hiding spot, but Root and some other officers are coming to review some of the possible recruits, you might want to find a new one."

Holly offered him a thin smile. "I'll probably just go home."

"Sorry, they'll need you later. Apparently they have a new recruit they are worried about, and want you to help with the training."

"You mean Root wants me to, so that he can get me out of this place and away from all of this." Holly gestured all around her and Foaly grinned.

"That sounds about right. I guess you could always help me in the OPs booth until you're needed. I have a couple things that could be tested." Foaly said, offering her an easy way out.

"Great," Holly muttered. "I always wanted to be a guinea pig!"

"Good. Lets go."

Holly reluctantly followed Foaly out of the recruitment office and too the OPs booth. On the way there, she was treated to a description of some of the things he wanted to test. As far as she could tell, she was going to grow, have her body time stopped, and start to taste like oranges. But she thought she might be wrong about the last one.

At least she hoped she was.

After a while, she stopped listening and started staring critically at Foaly's latest edition to his wardrobe.

It was a neon green and purple checked shirt.

And it was ugly.

Now, ugly may have been a bit of an understatement, but Holly was a just trying to keep her mind off what the officers would try to do to her. She had no doubt in her mind that it would be unpleasant.

"So, Holly, what do you say?"

"Sorry, what?"

"About my newest invention!" Foaly pouted. "Weren't you listening?"

"Of course I was, it sounds great!" One way to keep a genius talking was to compliment them. Luckily for Holly though, they had finally reached OPs.

"Alright, first off, we are going to try my truth potion. I think it will work fine, but according to the council, everything has to be tested!" Holly sighed. Why ever had she agreed to be a guinea pig? Why?! They ought to lock her up with Koboi! Not a pleasant thought.

Though, anything would be better than here.

Away from the hate and anger, away from the tears and lies. Away from everything. Not for the first time, Holly found herself wishing she had gone down with the rest of them.

She was barely paying attention as Foaly poured her a cup of a vile looking purple concoction.

She looked at it with distaste.

"Uh, I think I hear Root calling…" She tried lamely.

"Nope!" Foaly said a little too cheerfully, "he said he would come get you personally when they needed you! Now drink!"

Holly sighed. She eyed it carefully, then downed the whole glass.

When Holly passed out on the floor, Foaly glanced at the beaker from which the liquid had come from. "Oops." He said quietly. On the beaker, clearly printed, in letters that even an idiot could read, the label said, 'Memory Potion'. "Sorry Holly."

- - - - -

_"1…2…3…GO!" Holly shouted._

_She and Trouble jumped from their hiding places, guns blazing._

_Enemy after enemy fell, struck with an unforgiving Neutrino beam. Holly plugged away, running to Private Ryan who was being held up with a gun to his head._

_She saw Trouble falter but didn't have time to react._

_He was down seconds later, but Holly had long since lost all sense of rationality. She ran full out for Ryan, trying desperately to stop the inevitable bullet that would pound mercilessly into his skull unless she did something._

_All around her, gunfights were continuing and she frequently had to jump over bodies and bullets, but she remained oblivious. There was one thing she had too do, and nothing was going to stop her from doing it._

_She slipped in a pool of blood, and nearly went down, but was held up by some unknown strength. She could feel her lungs protesting, but she couldn't give up now. If she went down , they all went down, and the mission would have been a complete failure._

_Someone had to get back to tell Commander Root what had happened. Just one._

_Still oblivious to the world around her, she didn't see the man holding Private Ryan level his gun. _

_He shot, once, twice…_

_The bullets hit home, one shattering her right arm. She switched her gun to her left hand, and kept running. Blood poured freely from the wound, and pain threatened to overcome her._

_She was almost there. She almost had him…_

_The sound of a bullet smashing into bone rang in her ears and she screamed._

_"NO!"_

_Ryan dropped like a stone to the floor once the man let go of him. Holly felt the pain and anger from the last battle flood her mind, and she too fell to the floor, propelled by her own forward motion._

_She felt her eyes close, and prayed…_


	3. Tag Along

**Title:** Trojan  
  


**Genre: **Action/Adventure

**Spoilers:** None really.

**AU/Cannon:** AU

**Author:** Seadragon

**Dedicated to:** The story I wrote, and lost in Europe.

**Ship:** Not telling!

**Slash:** None.

**Summary:** After a mission that claimed the lives of all her partners, Holly must face anger and hate at work. Tears fall in secret, where no one will see them. When the enemy from the first mission returns for revenge; no one believes her, to fight it; she'll need a little help.

- - - - -

**Chapter 3: **_Tag Along_

- - - - -

"Holly!"

Holly opened her eyes and groaned. She had a pounding headache. Her right arm, the one in the cast, was throbbing. And to top it all off, she was lying on the floor of the OPs booth.

"What in the name of Frond was that Foaly?" Holly demanded

"Sorry about that. The potions got mixed up, it was a memory potion." Foaly sounded genuinely apologetic, something that didn't happen too often.

"Well it worked." Holly commented sarcastically

Holly could feel tears welling up in her eyes once again. She had relived the end in her memories, trapped by her own mind. She had had to relive something she hoped never to think about again. If that wasn't torture, she didn't know what was.

"Captain Short? What are you doing on the floor?" Commander Root was at the door, staring at her.

"Passed out." Holly said simply.

"From what?" Root said suspiciously.

"A memory potion." Holly glared at Foaly, who gave a nervous smile.

"Ah, right. I see." And that would be a flat out lie. "Well Short, you are needed in the Recruitment Office, as Foaly will have no doubt told you. So, if you're ready to get off the floor, lets go!"

"Sorry sir." Holly jumped to her feet and brushed the dirt off her uniform. "Eww, don't you ever clean in here?"

"Nope." Foaly said blatantly. "With a budget as small as mine, you don't have money to spare for cleaning."

"Keep it up donkey boy, and your precious budget might become invisible!" Root shouted, going a lovely shade of red. Foaly frowned; he really didn't appreciate budget jokes, especially from Root.

"Now, Captain, can we go?!"

"Right away sir." Holly followed Root out of the OPs booth with a sigh and resigned herself to babysitting duty.

"Now Holly, this recruit you are going to be dealing with is very capable. But he's not exactly streetwise. His name is Laton Rewmifs, pronounced Lay-ton Rew-miss. I know you are quite good, so I want him to do his training with you."

_You mean you want to get me out of here_, Holly thought. But she was grateful, she wouldn't mind having something to keep her busy, though she wasn't particularly happy with babysitting some recruit.

Quite a bit too soon for her liking, they arrived at the RO, or Recruitment Office. The second time she had been there in one day. Root opened the door for her and she stepped in.

She was thankful for Foaly's height potion once again. Since some of the workers at Police Plaza were quite a bit taller than elves or sprites, the place had to be designed for larger beings. But thanks to Foaly, the common height of an elf, sprite, dwarf or anything else of similar stature, was anywhere from five feet upwards.

To makes things altogether easier, the potion was mass-produced and distributed to every diminutive citizen in Haven. Holly herself was five foot six, and very grateful. She used to have to jump to reach doorknobs, and listen to Foaly's not so quiet snickering.

Inside the office were Recruitment Officer Thorn, and someone who was obviously the new recruit Laton Rewmifs.

Laton had very, very, blue hair and solid black eyes, and skin the same color as Holly's, very tanned. He was about five foot nine, an average height for male elves. On one wrist he had a thin silver chain with a flat star in the center.

Holly and Root sat in the two unoccupied chairs and Holly stared at her hands.

"Laton, this is Captain Holly Short, you are going to be working with her. Everyday you meet her at the office, and do whatever she has planned. You will go with her on missions, to do paperwork, or to the grocery store. Anything." RO Thorn said.

Laton nodded. Holly nodded. Root nodded. Smiles all around.

As they discussed the details, Holly noticed Laton staring at her cast. She avoided his eyes and continued to listen to Root and Thorn.

"What happened?" Laton said suddenly.

"I was shot." Holly said shortly.

"Why don't you heal it?"

"No ones magic is working." Root said. "No one knows why, so Holly has to wear a cast and wait for it too heal."

"Oh." Laton fell quiet, seeming to be listening.

Holly settled herself in her chair and adjusted her sling. Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, they were done talking. "Any questions?" Thorn asked.

"One. Laton, can you use a gun?" Holly asked.

"He has been through basic training Captain." Thorn said. "His marksmanship is quite satisfactory."

Holly nodded. A question popped into her head almost immediately. "What if I have to ride the flares?" She asked. The pods were only designed for one, and they were both over five feet.

"Foaly has recently designed two man pods, or I guess in this case, two person pods. They go on line tomorrow." Root added.

"That all?" Holly asked. When she received a nod she stood up and saluted the Commander. Laton followed her cue and she left the RO. Root followed them and put a hand on her shoulder.

"Don't worry Holly, they'll forget sooner or later." He whispered to her before brushing past them.

Holly sighed. She wished she believed him, but she didn't. It just didn't seem possible. They all blamed her for their friends and/or families deaths, and didn't care who knew it. They weren't likely to drop it, just like that.

"What's wrong Captain?" Laton asked her and she looked up.

"Call me Holly." She took a deep breath. "I don't really want to talk about it."

Laton shrugged and followed her to her office, which wasn't really big enough for two people, but they would live.

Live.

Would she never be able to use that word again without feeling guilty?

"One minute, I need to find another chair." Holly muttered and pushed past him into the hallway. She looked both ways before stepping into Trouble Kelp's office, which was right next to hers.

She was about to pick up his chair when she saw the picture on his desk. It was Holly, Grub, Trouble, Mulch, Root, Foaly, and the rest of the team. She bit her lip sharply and tasted the coppery blood.

Her eyes filled with tears and threatened to overflow. She sat in the chair she had been about to take and picked up the picture.

"_Come on Holly! Get in the picture!" Foaly yelled._

_She had happily obliged, filled with the excitement of the day. They had all been awarded medals for the second goblin rebellion, not quite as large as the first, nor as serious, but still worrisome._

_They were all in their uniforms, well except for Mulch and Foaly; they just had the medals pinned to their shirts. Foaly's medal clashed horribly with his neon orange shirt with its vibrant yellow pockets, buttons, and collar._

_Despite the memorial service of the three officers who had died, they were all smiling, proud of themselves, and happy._

_Gone were the worries of the old days, when they knew that somewhere the goblins were just preparing for retaliation, they were free for the time being. But they all knew that the LEP was not a job for those seeking rest and relaxation and they would be back to the dangers and fears of day to day life soon enough._

_But for the time being they all had huge smiles on their faces._

_If only they knew what was going to happen within a year, tearing them all apart completely. Maybe they could have prepared for it, but it wasn't likely. No one can prepare for slaughter._

_But for now they just lived for the moment, knowing that the time would come when someone left, forever. In this line of work you couldn't count on people to be there on a day-to-day basis. You just had to hope, and pray._

_And if you were lucky, your prayers would be answered and you would all live to see another day, once again defying the clutches of death, only to be returned sooner or later, and not be so lucky._

_They all knew it would happen, but they stayed optimistic. They had this day at least, they didn't have to worry about being killed, and they were free just to enjoy themselves._

_Something that wouldn't happen again for a long time…_


	4. Timely Revenge

**Title:** Trojan  
  


**Genre: **Action/Adventure

**Spoilers:** None really.

**AU/Cannon:** AU

**Author:** Seadragon

**Dedicated to:** The story I wrote, and lost in Europe.

**Ship:** Not telling!

**Slash:** None.

**Summary:** After a mission that claimed the lives of all her partners, Holly must face anger and hate at work. Tears fall in secret, where no one will see them. When the enemy from the first mission returns for revenge; no one believes her, to fight it; she'll need a little help.

- - - - -

**Chapter 4: **_Timely Revenge_

- - - - -

"Captain?" A hesitant voice said from the door. Holly looked up, her eyes red from crying. In her hand she still had the picture gripped tightly. Laton stood in the doorway, looking at her curiously.

"Y-y-yes?" She managed to get out through held back sobs.

She knew she must look a fright, tears running all over her face, her arm in a cast and sling, red eyes and white fingers from gripping the picture so tightly.

"Why are you crying?"

"I'm not crying."

"Yes you are." He said with amusement. He walked over and took the picture from her. "Who are these people?"

"My friends." She bit her cheek so the tears would stop. It worked, sort of.

"Where are they?"

"They're dead. They all died but me." Holly said bitterly. The tears fought her restraint and broke free, sliding all over her face. "Root, Foaly, Mulch, and Grub are still alive, but Grub hates me because he thinks I as good as killed his brother. All the LEP hates me."

"What happened?" He asked gently.

Holly hesitated but realized she had to tell him now.

"We were sent in to investigate a goblin hideout, the whole team went because there was a large number of goblins reported there, and we had already been through a second rebellion, we didn't need or want a third. We were ambushed and they all died but me, I escaped. And now they all blame me for the others' deaths."

She had been doing a fair job at holding back the tears until then, but suddenly they all came flowing out. Nothing to hold them back, no interruptions, not like last time. She buried her face in her hands and sobbed for her dead friends, her lost friendships, and for the life that had once been hers.

Laton put his hand on her shoulder and if she had been watching she would have seen a curious thing, but she was preoccupied, luckily for him.

When at last she had exhausted her supply of tears, Laton quickly moved his hand.

Holly sat up again and dried her eyes with the box of tissues on Trouble Kelp's old desk. She stood up and adopted her old closed and determined look. "Lets go."

She picked up the chair and proceeded to her own office and put the chair down.

One of the reasons Captain Holly Short made such a good Recon officer was her ability to get up and keep going. She could sit and cry for an hour and get back up and finish a fight, or break an arm and keep going. She was determined, and would do anything to finish a mission.

Laton had followed her back and sat in the chair that had taken half an hour, a bucket of tears, and old memories to retrieve. Holly took her place at her desk and picked up a folder.

**Assignment: Captain Holly Short**

Inside it read;

**Goblin Attack: Lower Fifth: Spider Alley**

**You are needed to go and discover what this is all about. There are reported to be at least twenty goblins. They have killed three civilians already and are holding at least ten others.**

**Report to the OPs Booth and get any necessary equipment for you and your rookie. Yes, he will be accompanying you. **

**If this is another Revolution, who knows what could be waiting for you. Just know this, we don't have the forces to repel them again. What we will need is a miracle. As you well know, we lost some of our most prominent officers recently, and could not defeat them, or even hold them back.**

**We cannot send a team with you.**

**2nd is in Atlantis**

**3rd is tracking down a rogue pixie**

**4th is standing guard at ****Howlers****Peak******

**5th is on patrol**

**6th is on patrol**

**7th is on patrol**

**8th is tracking down a rogue troll**

**9th is on traffic duty**

**10th is guarding 210b**

**11th is on shuttle duty**

**12th is on guard duty (the governor of Atlantis is in town briefly)**

**This leaves the remainder of 1st.**

So she was going to get revenge. As she had vowed when she had woken up in the battlefield. She had vowed to get revenge for this, this slaughter. Who ever it was had better watch out.

_"Come on Holly!" Trouble whispered. "Time to get revenge!"_

_Holly followed closely behind him, carrying many tools of deviousness. In her arms she had a carrot tied to the handle of a plunger, a bottle of 'The Glue That Will Out Live Even You!' and a shirt of their own creation (complete with a point and laugh sign, thank you very much), made of several of his shirts cut up and 're-created' by yours truly. _

_The front of the shirt was neon green with flamboyant pink flamingos that had been added very, very recently. One of the sleeves was red with palm trees with arms and legs, and some very tacky sunglasses dancing across it, the other was hot pink and tastefully decorated with purple and blue hearts. The back was black, with "POINT AND LAUGH" spray painted in white across it, a tasteful touch if she did say so herself._

_They had big plans for this stuff._

_They knew he was very smart, intellectually, but when it came to street smarts, he was a bit of an idiot. Well, a bit didn't do him justice. Lets put it this way, he was lucky he didn't get hit by a car, fall in a manhole, and get eaten by mutant swear toads everytime he stepped out of the OPs booth._

_But even his intellectual abandoned him when carrots were involved. He was carrot-happy, if you will._

_But that suited them quite well thanks._

_They didn't really need the 'point and laugh' sign, they would be doing that no doubt, but it could prove useful, like when he tried to kill them, say._

_They knew for a fact that he took a 'break' at this time of day in the OPs booth, after barricading the doors, and blacking out the windows. And by break, I mean nap. And by nap, I mean dead to the world. Glad to have that cleared up. But back to our, er, _heroes_. They were crawling up to the OPs booth on their hands and knees, Trouble keeping a sharp lookout._

_If Root came along now, they would be on Traffic Duty for the rest of their lives._

_And by lives, I mean the rest of their pitiful existence, Traffic Duty wasn't exactly _living_, per say._

_Holly heard someone clear their throat meaningly, winced, and slowly looked up,_

_"And what are my two best officers doing on their hands and knees right next to the entrance to OPs, carrying a carrot tied to a plunger, a bottle of 'The Glue That Will Out Live Even You!', and a very ugly t-shirt?" He paused. "Actually, don't answer that, incase someone hears, we don't need any witnesses, I can guess why." He grinned quite evilly and Holly mentally resigned herself to life without living, or something more commonly known as Traffic Duty. "Any chance you need a third?"_

_Holly felt her jaw sink through the floor and through all the way to __China__. She felt her eyes pop out of her skull. Hell, she even heard her heart stop beating in shock. This was not happening, it couldn't be. It was just a figment of her imagination. It had to be._

_I mean, Commander Root couldn't be standing over her asking to join their revenge mission, could he?_

_Well, quite obviously, he could._

_"Uh… Sure. I guess." Trouble said lamely. Holly glared at him. He glared right back. He seemed to be saying, "Would you like to become on of the living dead in Traffic?" Holly sighed. Anything was better than that._

_Except being eaten by swear toads. That would just be embarassing._

_Holly smiled weakly and stood up to pick the lock on the steel reinforced door. After a few minutes, and some very interesting tricks, the lock clicked open and Holly pushed on the door. It opened without resistance._

_"Uh, Holly?" Root asked, very, very quietly. "Where the hell did you get the lock pick? Wait, on second thought, I think I know." He made strangling motions with his hands in the air and Holly grinned at the memories that brought back. Many times had he threatened to do the to Mulch, but they all knew he was quite fond of him, and, although he constantly threatened him, would miss him if he was gone._

_Holly indicated for them to follow her in. and dropped to her knees and crawled into the OPs Booth._

_"Here." She handed Trouble and Root the shirt and set to work on the plunger. They snuck up behind him and pulled it over his already hideous t-shirt, then sliced the one underneath it, and trashed it._

_"There." Trouble whispered, wiping his hands. "One less ugly shirt in the world."_

_Root snorted. "What about this one?"_

_"We sacrificed THREE ugly shirts to make that one." He smirked. "All done."_

_Holly nodded and set down the bottle of 'The Glue That Will Out Live Even You!'. She had put a ring of the glue on the plunger and was holding it out in front of her by the handle._

_She walked over to them, and stuck it firmly to his head. "Lets go."_

_They all walked out, and Holly relocked the door. They got down on their hands and knees and crawled around the corner at top speed. Holly had to bit her lip to keep from collapsing in laughter at the sight of Commander Root crawling around on his hands and knees in the middle of Police Plaza._

_"Mission Accomplished!" They gave each other high fives and broke out into uncontrollable laughter. This would be a day to remember, no doubt about that._

But all the happy memories had been stolen now. Holly shook her head frantically. She would not give anyone the advantage over her by being unfocused, she had grieved long enough. It was time to do what she was born to do.__


	5. Guess Who's Back?

**Title:** Trojan  
  


**Genre: **Action/Adventure

**Spoilers:** None really.

**AU/Cannon:** AU

**Author:** Seadragon

**Dedicated to:** The story I wrote, and lost in Europe.

**Ship:** Not telling!

**Slash:** None.

**Summary:** After a mission that claimed the lives of all her partners, Holly must face anger and hate at work. Tears fall in secret, where no one will see them. When the enemy from the first mission returns for revenge; no one believes her, to fight it; she'll need a little help.

- - - - -

**Chapter 5: **_Guess Who's Back?_

- - - - -

"Come on Laton! We've got to go to the OP booth." Holly smiled for the first time in a while, she was going to get a chance to show them what she could do, with or without her team.

She put the envelope into a desk drawer and step out into the corridor. As she and Laton walked purposely down the hallway towards the Operations Booth, several fairies stuck their heads out of their cubicles and watched them go by. Root just grinned.

When they got there, Foaly was waiting for them, holding a couple blasters, and some piece of technology, it was completely foreign to Holly, who didn't understand most of the stuff Foaly created.

She looked at it apprehensively, then at Foaly, silently demanding him to explain. Which he did.

"Water shield. A sort of suit I guess. Press this button while holding it to your chest, and you are covered in a shield of solid water. Not ice. It's water that holds its form and moves with you, it's to block fire balls, just in case it's goblins again."

She eyed it with distrust, but took one anyway. "How long does it last?"

"It's reusable, as many times as you like. To take it off just hold it back to your chest, and press the button again. It'll last as long as you leave it on." Foaly said with a smirk. "That way, you won't get hell from Root for wasting technology. Better put it on now, just in case." Holly complied, and was shrouded in a layer off water, which sunk into her LEP jumpsuit. Laton did the same. The only place you could see the water shield was anywhere not covered with cloth. So they both had water coating their hands and face like a second skin.

"Any thing else?" Holly asked, taking the blaster from Foaly. "Hey, what is this thing?"

"A Fissure 3.0. New model, made by me, thank you. Six settings, the three normal ones, one specially designed to cut holes in rock, or cement, one that allows you to shoot to kill." Hurriedly he added, "It's locked though. Only if it is Okayed by Root can it be unlocked with this key." He held up a small silver key, and pointed to a panel with 10 identical key holes, each with an ID number, and the name of whoever was using it. Above the first two (F30-1 and F30-2) the names Holly Short and Laton Rewmifs had blinked on. "And the last setting, taking into consideration the various operations you have had to do with your gun, is for surgery." Foaly grinned.

Holly just looked at the blaster. "Fancy."

"Of course. And in response to your 'anything else?', yes, there is one more thing. Well, two." He handed them both ear pieces.

"Uh, Foaly?" Holly asked. He looked at her. "We'll have our helmets."

"No you won't."

"Pardon?" Holly asked with incredulity.

"All the helmets are being updated, you won't have any." Foaly said plainly. "Therefore, you need an ear piece." He peered into both of their eyes. "Right, one set green, one set hazel."

**[AN: I know I said Laton's eyes are black, but that has been changed. They are now green. Thank you.]**

He grabbed two boxes off his numerous shelves and handed one to each of them. Holly opened hers.

"Foaly, why two iris cams?"

"Just a little experiment, nothing big." Foaly said nonchalantly.

Holly shrugged and expertly slid the iris cams in. Laton did the same, quite well actually. Too well for someone who had just joined the LEP. Holly shook her head. She was too accusatory. Maybe they had started teaching them how in the Academy, she wouldn't now, she hadn't been there in a while.

"Alright, are we all set _now_ Foaly?" Holly asked exasperatedly.

"Hmm, well, there was one more thing I wanted to test."

Holly grabbed Laton with her good arm and ran.

"Why do people always do that?!"

-----

Thanking all the gods she had been too busy to turn around after she grabbed his arm and pulled him out of OPs with her, Laton shrugged out of her grip. He sighed with relief and continued to follow her.

-----

Holly, Laton still following, made her way to the entrance of Police Plaza, ignoring the whispers from other LEP members.

Once outside she spoke into the ear piece, which doubled as a mic. "Hey, Foaly, where too now?"

"Spider Alley, didn't you _read_ what was in the folder?"

"Quiet donkey boy, I don't have the memory of a Sploogul." Holly said. Splooguls were another strange mutation. They were more of possessions though. You bought them at a store, and told them things you wanted to remember, sort of like a day planner, except day planners aren't hot pink with five legs and a light bulb with eyes for a head. Which reminded her, she needed to get one of those sometime soon. Oh well, maybe next time she had to go grocery shopping...

"Haven to Holly, are you there?"

Holly scowled. "Of course I'm here." She started walking towards Spider Alley, Laton behind her. "Is there any rush?"

"No Holly, the goblins will wait patiently for you to come before they kill anyone."

"One can always hope."

Holly started jogging towards the general direction of Spider Alley, which, thankfully wasn't to far away. She drew the Fissure 3.0, just in case, and put it on setting three.

There was smoke rising from Spider Alley. Holly could just make out roaring flames from where she was. She broke into a desperate run.

She stopped dead at the entrance to the alley. She stared in horror. There was an _army_ of goblins marching towards her, setting fire to everything behind them. She looked to the sides, and saw gas tanks, lots of gas tanks.

"Oh shit..." That was all she managed to say, then there was a huge flash of light, and the sound of roaring flames. 


	6. Then Just What Are They?

**Title:** Trojan  
  


**Genre: **Action/Adventure

**Spoilers:** None really.

**AU/Cannon:** AU

**Author:** Seadragon

**Dedicated to:** The story I wrote, and lost in Europe.

**Ship:** Not telling!

**Slash:** None.

**Summary:** Holly was silent for a moment, thinking. "Oh D'arvit!" She swore, and tapped her mike. "Hello? Hello?! Can anyone hear me?! The team that was sent after the group of goblins, turn back! Turn back! They aren't goblins!" And that was when a second explosion sent flames high into the air all around the city.

Captain Holly Short has had a lot going against her lately. First her entire team is slaughter in front of her. Then everyone back at Headquarters can't stand the sight of her. She's assigned a rookie, and things don't get any better.

But now there is another problem.

Haven is being attacked. By what? They don't know. By who? They don't know. How? They don't know. People are dying every which way she turns, and there is no one who can pull her out of this nightmare.

Or is there?

- - - - -

**Chapter 6: **_Just What Are They Then?_

- - - - -

The rushing flames distracted her for a minute, and then her natural reflexes kicked in and she dove to the ground and covered her head. She could only hope Laton would do the same, she couldn't risk raising her head to yell to him. Once again she was thankful for Foaly and his amazing technology. Her LEP jumpsuit and the water suit would take the brunt of the heat from the flames, so that she would be found as a crispy fairy barbeque.

As the flames advanced along the alley, they grew higher and higher. The goblins must have been extremely stupid, even for goblins, to start a fire so close to gas tanks like these. Even though they were fire resistant, and wouldn't be hurt by a normal fire, this wasn't a normal fire, this was an A Level Fire. The extreme heats would melt even the most fire resistant being on, and below, the Earth's surface.

Luckily, Holly was at the opening of Spider Alley, where it met the open space of the main streets. Therefore, the flames wouldn't be concentrated. She still felt the intense heat though, and remembered the first goblin rebellion, four years ago. Then, she had escaped being fried by dumping coolant on her head, but she didn't have that escape this time.

Once the scorching heat had subsided to just burning, Holly opened one eye. The flames had past her, and were burning on all sides. Cars had overturned and buildings were aflame. People were screaming, screaming. Holly slowly got to her feet and stared at the chaos before her with despair. The screams echoed in her mind over and over again. Flames were flashing everywhere, the wail of sirens filled her ears. And then there were footsteps. Running, away, just away.

"Holly?"

Holly spun around and raised her new gun, the Fissure 3.0, cranked to setting two, stun, ready to shoot who ever had come up behind her. Laton raised his hands slowly in a gesture of peace. The same she had given the Italians, five years ago. She lowered the blaster and returned it to its holster.

"Sorry." She said quietly. She looked back into Spider Alley, was that a flicker of movement? "Come on, the others will handle the fires, we have to find the goblins."

"Wouldn't they be dead? I mean, the only reason we survived is these water suits." Laton indicated to the trigger hooked to his belt. "And they don't have them."

"Even so, I want to find those bodies if they're dead, and find out who these rebels are." Holly said grimly, turning her back on the street fires and the panicking civilians. Already emergency forces had arrived and were getting people to safety, they weren't needed here.

She began picking her way through the flames, towards the back of Spider Alley. The bodies of goblins littered the path. Just as she was about to think she was just being paranoid, and nothing back here had moved, she saw the gaping hole in the brick wall at the dead end of the alley. She knew that hadn't been there before, they must have set fire to the alley, blown the hole when the gas tanks were exploding, and escaped before they burnt to death. These bodies here, they would be the ordinary soldiers. She had recognized them for the army they were by the uniforms they wore. She would bet anything that the most important got out first, and they just hadn't been fast enough.

"These aren't goblins."

Holly spun around wildly for the second time in the past five minutes. Laton was crouched beside a fallen goblin, his body charred so badly that he was barely recognizable as a goblin. "What do you mean they aren't goblins? Of course they're goblins. And if they aren't goblins, which I'm not saying they aren't, just what are they then?"

"I don't know, but they aren't goblins." Laton held up the goblin's wrist, where a watch like device was strapped. He undid the straps and let it fall. Immediately, the charred goblin _wasn't_ a goblin anymore.


	7. Who Knew?

**Title:** Trojan  
  


**Genre: **Action/Adventure

**Spoilers:** None really.

**AU/Cannon:** AU

**Author:** Seadragon

**Dedicated to:** The story I wrote, and lost in Europe.

**Ship:** Not telling!

**Slash:** None.

**Summary:** Holly was silent for a moment, thinking. "Oh D'arvit!" She swore, and tapped her mike. "Hello? Hello?! Can anyone hear me?! The team that was sent after the group of goblins, turn back! Turn back! They aren't goblins!" And that was when a second explosion sent flames high into the air all around the city.

Captain Holly Short has had a lot going against her lately. First her entire team is slaughter in front of her. Then everyone back at Headquarters can't stand the sight of her. She's assigned a rookie, and things don't get any better.

But now there is another problem.

Haven is being attacked. By what? They don't know. By who? They don't know. How? They don't know. People are dying every which way she turns, and there is no one who can pull her out of this nightmare.

Or is there?

- - - - -

**Chapter 7: **_Who Knew?_

- - - - -

The torturous screams of citizens all over Haven reached Holly's ears only seconds after the explosion had rocked the city to its foundations. Flames were dancing in the sky and streets. Over her ear set she could hear Foaly shouting to Root, and Root shouting to everyone. She could hear the chaos in Police Plaza. In the streets she could hear peoples' _lives_ ending. The entire city was burning, nothing was left untouched. This was their worst nightmare, besides the Mud Men finding them.

The entire city, taken over by one crisis. One uncontrollable devastating force. Who knew what else the goblins, no, that wasn't right, the beings had rigged. Who knew what they wanted. Who knew how many more people were going to die.

_People are dying_

_Children are crying_

_Concentrate_

_Concentrate…_

Holly's head was spinning. Things were out of control. They were really and truly out of control. She hadn't felt this helpless in a long, long time. Not since they had associated with Artemis Fowl, the boy genius with a strictly criminal intent.

"Holly. Holly!"

Holly shook her head and her eyes slid back into focus. Someone was screaming at her over the headset, and it _hurt_. 

"I'm here." She said quietly, and looked around.

Laton was staring off into the distance at the flames with an unreadable expression on his face. For a minute, he looked like someone she knew, or had known. But the likeness disappeared once he turned around to look at her.

She heard a relieved sigh at the other end of the headset and turned her attention back to Foaly. "What's going on? How did this happen?" She demanded of the centaur. In the background she could hear him typing furiously.

"Just get back here as quickly as you can."

"Alright, we're coming." Holly said wearily and disconnected it so she could concentrate. "We're needed back at Police Plaza." She told Laton and she brushed herself off.

He nodded and followed suit.

As soon as she was clean enough to be seen in public after a crisis, they started their walk. You always had to be careful after a huge disaster, people wanted to be reassured, and there was nothing less reassuring than a figure of authority covered in filth and looking exceptionally dejected.

So, they had to hurry.

- - - - -

The walk was silent as walks go. And when I say silent, I mean they were silent, not the people around them, who getting hysterical. Holly had long ago learned to ignore them, and Laton was more than just decent at it. But they still had to walk through a minefield of cars, fire, and craters. Oh yes, and thousands of terrified people.

The thing was, no one knew if there was going to be another explosion or not, so they couldn't exactly tell people it was all going to be fine. Because, as I said, they didn't know if it was.

Even worse though, was the fact that they weren't dealing with goblins. Goblins could be handled, even if they were under the control of a technological genius gone wrong. They just didn't have the brains for their rebellions to be long lived.

The last time the goblins had done something that had actually scared Holly was a few years ago now. And they had been under the control of two geniuses that had been corrupt.

But these weren't goblins.

And Holly didn't know what was going to happen next.

They didn't even know who, or what, they were dealing with. Just that they had no problem with blowing a city and it's inhabitants to pieces. And, that they had the firepower to do so.

It was getting harder and harder to ignore the desperate people who were flinging themselves at her.

The real problem there was, she wanted to fling herself at someone, who could tell her it was all going to be all right, that everything was going to fine. There was one problem. No one could tell her that.

- - - - -

"Alright, this is what we know so far. Some unknown body of people have managed to blow up two major parts of Haven with no prior warning. They haven't contacted us yet, and we don't know if they ever will.

"And eight more officers are dead." Root said.

"And, there are riots in the street, people are literally going crazy." Foaly added from the doorway. All of the remaining officers, including Holly and Laton, were gathered in one of the common rooms to hear exactly what they knew, which, unfortunately and entirely predictably, wasn't much.

"We are going to send you off in two shifts to make sure everything is alright at home and such. Each shift will get two hours." Root said, glaring at Foaly. This was much too serious to spaz about. "But, if there is another explosion, I don't care _what_ you are doing, get back here immediately. After you get back, you wont be leaving for quite a while, so bring whatever you'll need. I have the sheets, so come and see what shift you are on."

There was a mad rush of officers desperately worried about friends and family. Holly hung back, there was no one left for her to check on. All of her family was right here. And she had no friends left, except for those right in front of her.

And a couple of Mud People who didn't even remember who she was.

Funny how it always came back to that.

- - - - -

Anyone know who Laton is?

No?! Come on people!

Think long and hard. Then think about the title of the story…

Then think some more, and know this: if you guess, I won't tell you. *winks* Aren't I nice? But, I will give you a… cookie! Rejoice people of the world! Alright, you caught me, I've had a little bit of sugar. Okay, a moderate amount. Fine, enough sugar to last the United States for five years, but that's beside the point!

Yes! This cannot be classified as a cliffhanger! Can it? I give up, I'm doomed to write cliffies for the rest of my life I suppose.

I hope you people know how much fun this story is to write. And how annoying it is not to be able to tell anyone who Laton is. *sigh* Ah well, please **read and review**!

That shall be all,

_Seadragon_.


	8. Dangerous Times

**Title:** Trojan  
  


**Genre: **Action/Adventure

**Spoilers:** None really.

**AU/Cannon:** AU

**Author:** Seadragon

**Dedicated to:** The story I wrote, and lost in Europe.

**Ship:** Not telling!

**Slash:** None.

**Summary:** Holly was silent for a moment, thinking. "Oh D'arvit!" She swore, and tapped her mike. "Hello? Hello?! Can anyone hear me?! The team that was sent after the group of goblins, turn back! Turn back! They aren't goblins!" And that was when a second explosion sent flames high into the air all around the city.

Captain Holly Short has had a lot going against her lately. First her entire team is slaughter in front of her. Then everyone back at Headquarters can't stand the sight of her. She's assigned a rookie, and things don't get any better.

But now there is another problem.

Haven is being attacked. By what? They don't know. By who? They don't know. How? They don't know. People are dying every which way she turns, and there is no one who can pull her out of this nightmare.

Or is there?

- - - - -

**Chapter 8: **_Dangerous Times_

- - - - -

"Will all officers on the first shift please report to the De-Briefing Room. All 1st officers to the De-Briefing room." The loudspeaker blared over and over. The second shift officers were preparing to leave, Holly and Laton among them. There was a strange lack of chaos in the Plaza.

Outside though, was a decidedly different story. Many houses had burnt in the initial explosion, leaving hundred of people homeless. They had taken in the worst injured that hadn't made the Hospital cuts, but there were still many, many more outside, with no where to go.

"Alright, I don't exactly have anyone to visit." Holly admitted to Laton once they were outside Police Plaza. They were both trying their best to ignore the fires and people on the streets. For Holly, this wasn't all that difficult. She had been on site for several disaster class events. None had been quite like this though. Laton was having trouble keeping his eyes trained on the ground. He kept glancing up with a pained look on his face.

He cocked his head and looked at her curiously. "But, I thought your mother…"

"How do you know about my mother?" Holly demanded, stopping in the middle of the street to stare at the blue haired rookie. He also stopped, an innocent look swiftly covering his face.

"They gave me your file to read before I met you." He shrugged. "They said it would help me get to know you."

Holly backed down. "I suppose it would." She said slowly. "But, we are not going there. I don't want to see her, and especially not now. We will go to, the grocery store."

"The grocery store?"

"Is there something wrong with that?" She snapped defensively, before continuing her walk, which looked slightly more purposeful now. Shaking his head, Laton followed her.

- - - - -

The visit to the grocery store turned out to be one of the worst ideas she could have had. Hundreds of people were crowding the entrances fighting to get in. The entire city had gone into panic mode, and when in panic mode, there were two things they could do. One was sit on their doorstep and cry, which many civilians had chosen to do. And there was make a run to the local stores and horde everything you could.

Unfortunately, quite a few people had chosen the second option as well.

From a ways away, Holly and Laton watched the crowds shoving each other back and forth, and every so often, a couple people would be able to slip in the doors.

"So, I take it we're giving the grocery store a miss?" Laton asked innocently, but you would have to be deaf and blind to miss the smirk. Holly scowled at him, but nodded.

"I'm not in the mood to become part of that raging crowd anytime soon." She said, turning to look at the hordes of anxious people, all fighting to be at the front of the crowd.

Together, they turned to walk back towards Police Plaza.

Screams behind them changed their plans.

Holly whirled around just in time to see flames come roaring out of the grocery store, passing through the thick glass doors as though they were made of paper.

"Get down!" A voice shouted, and Holly and Laton flung themselves to the cracked asphalt. Only later did Holly realize the frantic voice had been her own.

When she worked up the nerve to look up again, she wished she hadn't.

The people in and around the grocery store had never had a chance. The grocery store itself had collapsed directly after the initial explosion, and there was no movement from anywhere with in ten meters of it. Flames were spreading around it in a circle, desperately trying to continue burning.

A throbbing pain in her arm caught her attention, and she tore her eyes away from the fallen in shell of the store. She glanced at her broken arm, and shuddered.

The cast was practically crushed, and pieces of it had broken off. One such piece had pierced her arm, and a steady stream of blood was trickling away from it. Gritting her teeth, she grabbed the offending piece of plaster, and tried to pull it out of her arm.

A pointless exercise as it turned out. It was stuck deep, and pulling on it only made the bleeding worse. As her blood splashed onto the bashed and beaten road, she squeezed her eyes shut, distraughtly trying to fend off the coming tears.

Needless to say, she failed miserably.

Laton had gotten to his feet, and was looking around trying to find some sign of life. But when he heard her crying, he waded through the wreckage to her side.

As he helped her to her feet, she wondered when he had gotten the black gloves he wore now. If he noticed her curious glance, he didn't show it. Instead, he was speaking frantically into the microphone Foaly had given him.

"Right."

The conversation was over, and in her dazed stupor, she hadn't heard more then the last word. Holly blinked lazily, and fought the urge to close her eyes. Her last thought as she slid to the ground was that this just might be the end of the world. Surprisingly, she didn't much care.

- - - - -

Laton spun around when he heard a dull thump. Holly was lying on the ground, apparently unconscious.

Extremely thankful for his new gloves, he picked the captain up with a little difficulty, glanced around once more, and seeing no movement other than that of the first shift officers, started back to Police Plaza.

While she wasn't exactly heavy to start with, it was safe to say that Holly had definitely lost weight since that disastrous mission. As it was, she didn't weigh much more than a child.

It was difficult enough to pick through the rubbish on the roads by yourself, but when carrying an injured officer, it got that much more difficult. Laton nearly dropped Holly several times upon tripping over loose stones, or, to his extreme discomfort, dead bodies.

But he gritted his teeth and kept walking, waving off offers of help, there were other people who needed it more right now, if they got to police plaza, she would be just fine.

Once or twice, he found himself wanting to drop her in the street and go and hide. When this happened, he reminded himself that he was on a rescue mission, and if he stopped, who knew what might happen? The LEP was down enough officers, they needed everyone they could get.

He found out just how true that was when he saw several officers recruiting unharmed civilians to fight if, or should he say when, it was needed, and to sort through the rubble for survivors.

Unfortunately, there weren't too many to be found. The explosions just kept coming, and no one knew how much longer the city could hold up under this pressure. Or how long it would take before the earth collapsed inwards, bringing the Mud People's cities down with it.

Whoever was causing these explosions wasn't only putting the lives of the People in danger, but also those of every living creature on the planet.

And no one knew why. Or how to stop them.

Or if they even could be stopped.


	9. Dangerous Secrets

**Trojan**

Chapter Nine: Dangerous Secrets

* * *

It's funny how people never seem to realize that most emergencies don't require a crew the size of an army to deal with them. Apparently the People weren't an exception to this. Laton sighed, rather melodramatically in his opinion, the stress must be getting to him, as a task force of at least fifteen fairies rushed to his aid, well, Captain Short's aid. It appeared that not everyone held her responsible for the recent disaster. While that was certainly something she would be glad to hear when she woke up, it really didn't help right then, when he was slightly worried about being knocked off his feet by the mob of frantic mediwizards. It certainly didn't help that he was already off balance due to carrying an unconscious Recon officer.

Reluctantly, Laton handed Holly off to the mediwizards, who promptly dumped her on a stretcher, and disappeared through a set of double door. He stared at the doors for a second, his mind drifting as he considered something. Unfortunately, he never go to act on his quickly formulate plan, as it was then that Commander Root decided that he wanted to have a word with the LEP's newest addition. The Commander tapped Laton on the shoulder, clearing his throat at the same time. It took a rather large amount of self-control on Laton's part not to snap at his superior officer. "Yes sir?" He asked, in what he considered to be a polite tone. Apparently it wasn't quite polite enough for the Commander's liking, or maybe it was something else bothering Root.

"I'd like to speak to you for a moment rookie. In my office." Root announced. "Actually, Foaly, the paranoid technician you met earlier, wants to speak to you for a minute. So we'd better go to the Ops booth." Root sighed, shaking his head, a clear sign of how much of a toll the past twenty-four hours had taken on him. "Sometimes I wonder just who is in control here." Nodding for Laton to follow him, he led the way to the Operations Booth, muttering incoherently to himself as they walked through the maze of corridors. Not for the first time, Laton considered drawing himself a map.

Root opened the door for the junior officer in an unusual display of cordiality. Letting Laton enter first, he shut the door softly behind himself. Laton glanced back at the Commander, wondering if he was sick. Never had he known the man to be quite so calm, and, well, nice, for lack of a better word. Waiting inside for them was the centaur, a disturbingly grave look on his face. Laton looked back at Root again, searching for an explanation, but the Commander didn't look any more enlightened than himself. Sighing, Laton turned his attention back to the technician. "Yes?" If he had been thinking, he might have taken a moment to glance at one of the smaller computer monitors behind Foaly. Unfortunately, this was not the case.

"How did you do it?" The centaur asked suddenly, staring at his intently. Commander Root narrowed his eyes at Foaly, wondering just where this was going. Laton stared at him for a second as well, taken aback.

"Excuse me?" He asked, a look of confusion, genuine or otherwise, on his face. Foaly scowled at him, clearly not appreciating his refusal to co-operate.

"Don't play with me. I'm not stupid. I have registered the most patents of any fairy, that doesn't just happen because of coincidence. I already know, so don't bother playing dumb. Just tell me how, I've been playing with the idea for years and haven't managed to figure it out, there are always either side affects, or some sort of drawback. And considering you actually made it this far, obviously you've gotten around that." Foaly's eyes were shining with the obvious excitement he always felt when confronted with a challenge. Laton considered the techie's words carefully, considering his options. Unfortunately, there didn't appear to be too many. "Oh come on, I know the bracelet's the catalyst, just give me a hint at least."

"If you know that much," Laton said slowly. "How did I get this far?"

Foaly smiled wryly. "It only slipped into place when I saw you in the surveillance cameras I have in front of the Police Plaza. Nice gloves by the way. I take it you haven't been able to sidestep the one obvious drawback quite yet?"

"No, no I haven't, it's a tricky one." Laton shrugged. "I'm not too concerned with that though, if you were able to detect it so quickly, there are other flaws that need work first." Foaly at least had the grace to look insulted. Sighing, Laton fiddled with the bracelet on his wrist, which, as Foaly had guessed, was the catalyst for the entire thing. There was no point in pretending anymore, if the centaur knew, he knew, and that was that. Glancing at Root again, he noticed the glazed look in the Commander's eyes and realized the man probably hadn't heard a word either of them had said since they entered the booth.

"I take it she doesn't know?" Foaly asked, glancing at a screen behind him quickly before turning back to Laton. A quick appraisal told Laton the screen displayed a section of the Police Plaza that had been sectioned off to heal any injured officers, more specifically, Holly.

He shook his head slightly. "No, no. What do you think I am, crazy?"

"It's been considered." Foaly admitted, before his curiosity got the better of him. "I just have to know though, why?" He paused for a second before adding, "And if you don't mind, take off the bracelet."

"That's for me to know and you to-" Laton told him.

"Yeah, yeah, for me to find out, I know the rhyme. Aren't you a little old for that?" Foaly asked. "And the bracelet if you please-?" He held out a hand, not expecting to be given it willingly. When it wasn't dropped into his hand, he sighed. It being expected didn't make it any less aggravating. "Fine," He muttered, "we'll do it the hard way. Commander? Time to wake up, I need you to shoot the rookie if he doesn't give me his bracelet in five, four…"

Root looked up from his corner, where he had quite nearly nodded off to sleep. "Huh? Oh, sure." He pulled his blaster from its holster with slight difficulty, but trained it on Laton with deadly accuracy. Laton sighed.

"If you insist." Undoing the clasp on his bracelet as slowly as possible without getting knocked out by a trigger happy Root, Laton's mind was working in overdrive. There didn't appear to be anyway out of the situation that he could see, and if he couldn't see it, it didn't exist. So, sighing again, he slipped it from his wrist and dropped it into Foaly's outstretched palm. "There, happy now?" He grumbled, rubbing his wrist lightly.

"Oh, very." Foaly said with a devious grin on his face. "But I don't think Holly will be."

**AN: I'm sorry it's so short, and I'm sorry it's been so long but… Well… Uh. Okay, no excuses I know, sorry, sorry. But it's late. And I have a Latin test tomorrow. So, yes. I must go. But maybe I'll give you another chapter soon? Like by the end of the week? Who knows? I bet you can guess who it is now, can't you? Anyway, gotta go, so, uh, I hope you enjoyed it, and, uh, sorry it took so long cough. Right. Ta ta!**


End file.
